Episode summary
Leveraged SpaceX ETFs & Mid-Year Industry Check-In
ETF Prime
· · 53 min · Hosts: Nate Geraci, Simeon Hyman · Guests: Paul Marino, Kirsten Chang
Summary
The host opened with the first half’s big ETF milestones: U.S.-listed ETF assets reached about $15.5 trillion, year-to-date inflows already topped $1 trillion, and the industry is on pace for another record year. The discussion with the guest emphasized how broad the demand has been, but especially how active ETFs have dominated product launches and how thematic flows have broadened beyond the old mega-cap AI trade into more granular bets.
The guest pointed to fixed income as a quiet standout, with bond ETF assets near $2.5 trillion and strong demand for active, flexible income strategies as rate uncertainty complicated traditional allocation playbooks. He also highlighted the year’s biggest thematic winners and losers: DRAM drew massive assets on AI-related memory demand, while midcaps, emerging markets, gold, and crypto all showed shifting investor preferences. The host argued that the broadening out into midcaps and international stocks could continue if market leadership stays wider.
The second half of the episode focused on leveraged single-stock ETFs, especially the launch of the Leverage Shares 2X Long SpaceX Daily ETF, SBCH, and the 2X Short SpaceX Daily ETF, SSPC. The guest said SpaceX’s popularity, Elon Musk’s profile, and pent-up retail demand drove huge trading volume, but stressed that these are trading vehicles, not long-term buy-and-hold products, and that investors need to understand daily reset risk, position sizing, and expense ratios.
Key takeaways
- U.S.-listed ETF assets reached about $15.5 trillion, and year-to-date inflows surpassed $1 trillion before midyear, putting 2026 on pace to challenge last year’s record.
- The guest said active ETFs are dominating product development, with about 80% of new launches in the first half of 2026 coming from active strategies.
- Fixed income was a major flow story, with bond ETF assets near $2.5 trillion and more than $300 billion in year-to-date inflows as advisers sought rate-agnostic income solutions.
- The guest said midcaps, emerging markets, and developed international equities are attracting more attention as investors diversify away from U.S. mega-cap concentration.
- SpaceX ETF demand was extraordinary, with SBCH posting the biggest first week of trading volume ever for an ETF, according to the guest.
- The guest stressed that leveraged single-stock ETFs are trading tools with daily reset risk, not long-term buy-and-hold vehicles.
Notable quotes
“the appetite for ETFs continues to grow regardless of the kind of market environment we're in”
“80% of all new ETF launches in the first half of the year were active”
“the leverage shares two times long SpaceX Daily ETF, ticker SBCH, along with the leverage shares two times short SpaceX daily ETF, ticker SPC”
How the episode opens
Our goal is to provide 200% exposure to the underlying stock of the underlying NE of the stock on a daily basis. All right, joining me will be Paul Marino, chief revenue officer at Themes ETFs, who in addition to a unique lineup of thematic ETFs, they offer a full suite of leverage and inverse single stock ETFs to include two SpaceX ETFs that launched a couple of weeks ago. Those actually launched one day after SpaceX itself IPO.
Those came to market very quickly. And that's the leverage shares two times long SpaceX daily ETF, ticker SBCH, and the leverage shares two times short SpaceX daily ETF, ticker SSPC. And listen to this, that two times long SpaceX ETF that ended up having the biggest first week of trading in ETF industry history like ever.
And so we are going to talk about that demand and the passion surrounding SpaceX on both the bare and bull side and then we'll also have a full conversation around leverage single stock ETFs in general and some important considerations for investors. Now to start this week I'll be joined by Kirsten Chang, senior industry analyst at Vetify. And with a second quarter now coming to a close, we're going to take a look at ETF flows so far this year, including some pretty big industry milestones we've seen in 2026.
And then along with that, Kristen has provided me with some brand new polling data from Vetifi's midyear market outlook symposium that was held just last week. And as I looked at that data, I thought it provided a really nice window into where ETF flows may be heading the rest of the year. So, we'll uh walk you through that as well.
As always, questions or comments, you can find me on X at natejercy or you can go to ETFprime.com.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- leveraged etfs
- inverse etfs
- investor education
- etf industry outlook
- etf flows and polling
Companies and tickers mentioned
- Themes ETFs
- Leverage Shares
- VettaFi
- SpaceX
Watch the episode
Watch “Leveraged SpaceX ETFs & Mid-Year Industry Check-In” on YouTube
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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ETF Prime, this episode and its artwork belong to Nate Geraci. Octagon is not affiliated with the show; this page is an independent summary.
